


The White Paladin

by LittleTortieCat



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: But its there and has a part in the fic, Coran is literal space uncle hint hint, Gen, I don't know, I'm Bad At Tagging, Sassy Pidge | Katie Holt, Shiro is gone but not really, Tags Added As I Go, the klance is minor, where am i going with this
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-04-27
Updated: 2017-08-02
Packaged: 2018-10-24 17:41:22
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 14
Words: 17,885
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10746624
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LittleTortieCat/pseuds/LittleTortieCat
Summary: The team is in disarray after the battle with Zarkon, shocked at the disappearance of Shiro. But what will they do when a mysterious voice begs to be found...?The search leads them to finding a new member of Voltron, and the group is forever changed...





	1. Prologue: Dreaming

She had been sleeping for a long time. She knew that. Civilisations had come and gone; the sands of time had shifted. Still, one thing remained constant: the threat of Galra. They ravaged planets, enslaving the inhabitants and draining the resources the unlucky world contained.  
As she dreamt of this, she was filled with the desire to help. But she could not, for she was hidden away, protected. She could not wake herself up, but she could call upon others to do it for her.  
She needed the right people though, ones that did not exist in the universe at that moment. So she waited, dreaming, sleeping.  
Sometimes, her memories took over her dreams, reminding her of a happier time, where a kindly man lifted her up into the sky air and spun her around. Or when a friendly boy held out his hand to her when she tripped.

Then, a spark awoke. On a small blue planet orbiting a small yellow sun, something ancient was reawakened. The Blue Lion of Voltron. Five humans, the species that dominated the planet, piloted the Blue Lion to another small, unexplored planet. They varied greatly; one was a girl disguised as a boy trying to find her family, and another was an escapee from the Galra. Their goals and views differed, and yet they found friends in each other.  
On the unexplored planet that was named Arus, they awoke the remnants of a long forgotten people - Alteans, a species exterminated by the Galra. After undergoing trials of strength and heart, the now group of seven set out to recover the universe from the Galra menace with the Lions of Voltron, each human piloting one that made up the mighty robot. They were the Paladins of Voltron.

After the many journeys and battles that they undertook and the things that they learnt and gained, she realised it was finally time to step out and rejoin them. This was particularly needed after a great battle lead to a tragedy that ran the risk of breaking up the team.   
The sleeping girl knew it was time to open her eyes and resume her duties as the White Paladin.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading the prologue!  
> Hi, this is my first Voltron fanfic and I hope you enjoy it. I don't have a huge idea where it's going but ok lets do this.  
> I would be really grateful for any constructive criticism, it really helps. Again, thanks for reading!


	2. Chapter 1: The Call

They didn't sleep well that night. How could they, with Shiro missing and possibly dead? No, he couldn't be dead.  
Keith knew he would know if Shiro was dead. The brotherly link they had between them would tell him.  
Still Shiro missing was horrific. He wanted to roam the universe for the Paladin the moment he saw the empty chair, but Allura and Coran said that they would discuss what to do the next day and it it was best that they all rested.  
Keith thought he wouldn't sleep. So it was even more of a surprise when the voice entered his dreamless sleep. It was familiar, yet mysterious.

_Paladins, I have watched over you from afar. Now it is time you recovered me. Please, come find me. Your Lions will know..._

Lance awoke drenched in sweat. He had been having the nightmare when he heard the voice. The nightmare that was his family forgetting him, his friends forgetting him, not having a place in the universe.  
The voice, the plea. It had brushed his nightmare aside and left a message imprinted on his brain.  
A sudden knock on his door startled him. Who could want something this late at night? He cautiously stood up and approached the door. Whoever it was knocked again impatiently.  
"I'm coming, I'm coming," he muttered, opening the door. "Keith. What the quiznack do you want?"  
Keith looked embarrassed and... had he been crying? "I... I just had to check."  
"Check what?" Lance asked not exactly in a kind tone. What had caused Keith to come and bother him in the middle of the night? It must be important if he had come to Lance. Really really important if he thought of their relationship.  
"Sorry, you were the closest." Keith was apologising? Shiro's disappearance must have been much harder on him than the others. At that thought, Lance decided to be a bit nicer.  
"Do you want to come in?" he asked.  
"Um, yeah." Keith slowly entered the room. Lance sat down on the bed and patted the space beside him.  
"You can sit here if you like." Surprisingly, Keith didn't object and sat next to Lance. He seemed smaller and more hunched over, nothing like the normally strong front he showed. "Right, what's up?"  
"I... I don't usually dream." Right, that was a weird thing to start off a conversation with. "But this time, I heard someone. They were asking me to find them."  
"...And that the Lions would know?"  
"How did you know? Did... you hear it too?" Keith looked suspicious. "Is it some sort of trap?"  
"It can't have been some strange dream if we both heard it," said Lance. "Maybe we should wake the others."  
"No need," said a voice. Keith and Lance looked up to see Hunk in the doorway. Man, he could be sneaky when he wanted to. "We all dreamed it."

When they arrived at the control room everybody else was already there. Pidge was dressed in her Paladin armour, and Allura looked flustered, pacing around the room. Co ran was standing off to the side, looking forlorn. "Somebody is trying to contact us. Who could it be?"  
"Unfortunately it doesn't appear to be related to technology, so I don't know if I can track the signal," Pidge was saying. Her hair was scruffy and unkempt, and there were dark bags under her eyes.  
"Hey everybody," announced Lance, walking into the room. Hunk and Keith were right behind him.  
"Now we are... assembled, we can decide what to do." Allura began. "This voice we all heard, what should we do about it?"  
"They seemed trusting," Hunk answered. "I didn't feel anything bad about them."  
"It could be some trick of the Galra," Keith said.  
"They didn't sound Galra," Lance shot at Keith. "Their voice was too high pitched."  
"Voices can vary. Just think of all of us. And they'll be looking for revenge."  
"Zarkon's dead, or at least severely injured. The Galra aren't a big threat to us right now."  
"We don't know that Zarkon is dead. They could be planning a trap right now, and this could be it."  
"Why are you so strung up Keith? We can trust this person, whoever they are!"  
"What makes you say that?! You're too trusting Lance, that's how your Lion was stolen before!"  
Lance was silent, before muttering "I don't know."  
"We should ask the Lions," Pidge said suddenly, breaking the silence. "If they do know what to do, then we trust the voice."  
"That would seem fitting..." replied Allura slowly. "I cannot see any harm in trying. Paladins, get to your Lions!"

* * *

 

Pidge entered the Green Lion and sat down gingerly. Her mind was filled with images of the most recent battle and the memory that stood out the most was the empty seat of the Black Lion, the newly recovered Bayard still stuck in its slot. They had left it there, unsure what to do with it.  
And Lance and Keith's argument, it had seemed more than their usual teasing. Without Shiro, there was no one to step in unless Allura could be bothered to, and she wasn't paying attention to them much right now. Pidge shook her head to clear it from unwelcome thoughts, and thought about the message.  
"The Lions will know..." Pidge thought aloud. Unexpectedly, her link with Green rippled and a vision was shown to her. It was of a planet, then a sort of grassland with a rock formation in the middle, and then a close up of the spire of rock.  
Pidge gasped and flicked open her eyes. "Guys I know where to go," she announced through the comms.  
"What?" Hunk said. "Did you get something? Cause I think I was starting to see something."  
"A tower of stone?" Lance asked.  
"Yeah, did you get it too?" she replied.  
"Yup, Blue seems really confident and raring to go. In fact- woah Blue, where are you going?!" Lance swore without warning.  
"The Blue Lion has left the Castle," Allura said worriedly. "Lance, is there a problem?"  
"Usually Blue and I are fine, but today she's got a mind of her own. I can't control her!"  
"She must be going to where the voice's owner is." Keith broke into the conversation.  
"Then we should follow Lance and the Blue Lion!" Hunk exclaimed.  
"Paladins, exit the Castle and join Lance. We shall follow."  
Pidge manoeuvred Green outside, where she was joined by Hunk and Keith. They waited a second for the Black Lion, before the painful realisation hit them. Without a word, they turned and sped after Lance.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yay, actual chapter now!  
> I will normally not update this quick, but I'm hoping to do it once or twice a week. I already have the next two chapters written, so they'll come pretty soon.  
> Thanks for reading and reviews and kudos are welcomed! :)


	3. Chapter 2: The Girl in the Pod

It took a while before they saw the planet from the vision. It was strikingly similar to Earth, with blue oceans and green land. There were even clouds spread across the atmosphere. As it filled their line of sight, Lance found himself able to pilot the Blue Lion again.  
"Alright Blue, what was that about?" he asked. She rumbled in response, and conveyed a feeling of intense longing. The emotion was so poignant that it brought tears to Lance's eyes. "Okay girl, let's find whoever's calling us."  
"Lance, you okay now?" queried Hunk anxiously.  
"Yup, I'm good." Lance piloted the Blue Lion towards the surface of the planet.  
"Are there any Galra?" Keith asked.  
"No, this planet appears to be uninhabited except by some semi-intelligent species. I'm sending you an image of them now," replied Coran.  
The species was four legged with curling horns. It was thin and lithe, with a long neck. "It looks a bit like a giraffe," Pidge commented.  
"A giraffe?" Allura uttered the word, confused.  
"Never mind," Pidge said quickly.  
As this conversation took place, Lance had swooped down over the planet, searching for the tower of rock. The rest quickly joined him, effectively searching the rest of the small planet.  
"Found it!" Hunk exclaimed after a short space of time.  
"Alright, we'll all fly to your location," Keith said.  
"Bet I'll get there first," Lance smirked. He knew that he was closer to Hunk than Keith, and even though the Red Lion was faster (but only slightly), he was confident that he would get there before Keith.  
Keith didn't reply, but Lance increased his speed, soaring towards the Yellow Lion. The spire of rock came into view, towering above the grassland it was situated in. Lance could see Yellow and Hunk on the ground before it, and he quickly landed next to them. He disembarked from his Lion, relishing the feel of wind on his face. "It's been forever since I felt this," he murmured to himself.  
The Red Lion suddenly appeared on the horizon, and touched down within a minute. Keith emerged, his face unreadable.  
"Mullet, I beat you," Lance said smugly.  
"Whatever." Keith stood on the other side of Hunk. Lance frowned. Keith wasn't being as easy to irritate as he normally was. Before Lance had time to continue that train of thought however, they had been joined by the Pidge and the Green Lion.  
"Allura, we're... we're here." The unspoken word hovered in the air. Keith fell silent.  
Lance swallowed before taking up the conversation. "What next?"  
"I would suggest that you search the formation, but be cautious. We will find a place to land on the planet and them come and join you."  
"Sure thing Princess."  
"Of course."  
"Will do."  
"Doing so."

* * *

 

Allura shut off the long range communications and concentrated on piloting the Castleship towards the direction of the Lions. She started as sudden tears filled her eyes and blinked them away quickly.  
"Princess..." She turned to see Coran looking at her with a worried expression. "Are you alright? The past battle had a large impact on you."  
"I'm just... I'm living, Coran, and that's enough right now."  
"What happened up there when you dueled with Haggar? You've been awfully quiet about it."  
"Oh Coran!" Allura abandoned the controls and flung herself into Coran's arms. Sobs racked her body as she gripped Coran's clothing tightly. "Haggar, that witch, she is... she is Altean!"  
"Altean! Are you quite sure?!"  
"Yes, yes I am." Allura straightened up, but remained in Coran's embrace. "But it makes me think... are we and her truly the only Alteans left alive...?"

* * *

 

The four Paladins split up into pairs, Lance with Hunk and Keith with Pidge. They spread out over the formation. Lance noticed that there was a large flat part some way up, large enough for a small spacecraft, maybe around the same size as the Red Lion, to land. He paced around the area. "I don't know how to explain it," he said to Hunk, "but I'm getting, I don't know, vibes from this spot?"  
"What, like Keith in the desert?"  
"Oh no..." Lance moaned melodramatically and slapped his hands against his cheeks. "I'm turning into a conspiracy theorist. Next thing I'll be growing my hair into a crazy eighties hairstyle!"  
"I can hear you, y'know," muttered Keith into the comms.  
"What's this," said Hunk, running his hands over the rock face. "It feels all funny over he- aaaah!"Lance span round to see a section of stone move aside smoothly, revealing a tunnel leading deeper into the rock tower. "Guys, you're gonna want to come see this." Minutes later, Pidge came scrambling towards them, closely followed by Keith. "What the heck have you found, Hunk?" she asked, staring at the tunnel.  
"A doorway leading somewhere no doubt scary and dangerous," replied Hunk.  
"Loosen up Hunk, it's probably not that bad," Lance said, peering inside.  
"Probably," Hunk repeated, a worried expression forming on his face.  
"Paladins, what is happening?" It was Allura again.  
"Don't worry about it, it's just that there's a creepy tunnel that just happened to open and it's most likely leading to somewhere equally creepy," Hunk said into his communicator, the pitch of his voice rising as he finished the sentence.  
"Hunk don't worry, it'll be fine," grumbled Lance lightly.  
"Whatever's in there could have come out and attacked us by now, if there's anything even there," said Keith.  
"I'm going down it," announced Lance. "Anyone coming?"  
"Of course," Keith answered.  
"I might stay out here and scan the rock face, check what triggered the door to open and if there's anything else around," Pidge replied.  
"I... will stay with Pidge. I think. Or I might follow you. I don't know. Uhhhhh..."  
Lance lost interest and wandered off down the tunnel. Keith walked after him, Bayard at the ready but not activated. Lights flickered into view as the tunnel turned into the corridor. Interestingly, they were of a similar design to the lights in the Castle. Lance thought about mentioning this to Keith, but dismissed it. Keith had probably noticed it too, he thought.  
Suddenly, the sound of heavy feet was heard behind them. Hunk ran towards them, panting. "I'm coming too!" he exclaimed.  
"Good to see you buddy," Lance said. They continued along in companionable silence. The tunnel ended in another door, but a single touch from Lance opened it. They entered a room, which felt almost identical to the Castle. "It's not just me that feels like we're back in the Castle, is it?"  
"Nope, I'm seeing it too." Hunk stood in awe as the room lit up, revealing high ceilings decorated in similar carvings to the ones in the cave on Earth. Remembering that moment gave Lance a pang of homesickness, as he remembered the last sight he had of Earth.  
"Lance, Hunk." Keith was standing in front of something at the other side of the room.  
"What?" asked Lance, walking over to join Keith. "...Holy quiznak."  
Floating in a cryo-pod like the ones Allura and Coran had been encased in, blue hair floating around a face marked by pink triangular shapes, was an Altean girl.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading!  
> I think that Allura would be in turmoil about Haggar, especially because of her deep hatred of the Galra. However, she would want to seem strong to the Paladins. I hope we get to learn more about Haggar in season 3.  
> Constructive criticism is greatly appreciated! :)


	4. Chapter 3: Reunited Part 1

"Are they... what I think they are?" asked Hunk. They all stood open mouthed, gaping at the girl in the pod. She wore the calm expression of sleep, and was clothed in a simple white dress reaching her mid-calves.  
"Should, should we get Allura and Coran?" Lance queried. Then he raised his voice and yelled, "Pidgeon, get down here!"  
After a short silence Pidge burst into the room, Bayard activated, screaming at Lance "Don't call me Pidgeon!" before swearing impressively as she caught sight of the Altean girl.  
Keith winced as he thought of how Shiro would have reprimanded her, then pushed it aside and whilst activating his long distance comms, said, "Allura, Coran... we've found someone."  
"Someone? Who?" Coran's voice filtered in over the communication units.  
"The thing is, we think they're... Altean."  
"..." There was an uncomfortably long silence. "What did you say?" It was Allura's voice now, hard as ice.  
"There's a girl... in a pod... who looks like you..." Keith's voice trailed off. He never knew what to say in these sorts of situations. It had always made him seem unapproachable to other people.  
"We'll be there as soon as we can." The comms shut off. Keith glanced around to see everybody looking at him.  
"So now... we wait?" said Lance.  
"I guess," replied Pidge, wandering off to explore the room.  
"Are we assuming this person is Altean then?" Hunk asked, twiddling his thumbs.  
"Well she certainly looks Altean," mused Lance. "And a real looker at that."  
"Lance!" they all chorused.  
"What?" I'm just saying!" Lance held up his hands in a signal of surrender. Suddenly, there was a beep as Pidge pressed a button on the wall. "Pidge! What the hell?!"  
"I was just curious!" she wailed as smoke filled the room. The pod slid open and the girl fell out onto Lance. He yelled as he nearly toppled over, before righting himself and catching the girl. The rest of the group stared in slight horror but mostly amazement as Lance pushed the girl up onto her feet, who was much shorter than him, more similar to Pidge in height. Keith guessed that he wanted to avoid a repeat of Allura's reaction to seeing him.  
Abruptly, the girls eyelids flicked open, revealing eyes of startling amber flecked with pale brown. She blinked a few times before focusing on Lance. "Blue!" she screamed, jumping away from Lance. Her eyes travelled from Hunk, pressed against the far wall, then Keith, with his Bayard forming a sword pointed at her, to Pidge staring with stunned surprise in her direction. "Yellow, red, green!"  
"Uh, hello..." ventured Hunk. "We're Paladins of Voltron... you've heard of it, right? Haven't you...?"  
"Hunk!" the Altean exclaimed, shocking them all. "You like cooking! And, and Keith, you like swords, and, and and Lance and..." The girl collapsed, slumping to the floor. "Quiznak, my legs are tingly."  
"Um, hello," Lance said warily. "Are you like, telepathic or something?"  
"Oh, greetings," the girl replied, crossing her legs on the floor. "I apologise, where are my manners? My name is Coreall, and it is my pleasure to meet you, Paladins of Voltron."  
"How did you know our names?" Pidge asked, crossing the room.  
"Oh, Pidge, I think? Is it?" The Green Paladin nodded and the girl continued, "I dreamt of you whilst I was in cryo-sleep. Therefore I know what you've been through."  
Keith said accusingly "You were the voice, weren't you?"  
"Of course. It's just White and I here, and she doesn't speak to other Paladins."  
"White?"  
"My Lion."  
"Like, a Voltron Lion?!" Pidge exclaimed, an expression of complete confusion on her face. "You have one?! And that makes you..."  
"Yes, I am a Paladin of Voltron."

* * *

 

The Paladins who had awoken Coreall stared at her, mouths hanging open. Well, she supposed that would have been a bit of a shock. Suddenly, the Paladins all made some note or movement of surprise. Coreall heard a faint voice coming from their helmets. "Yeah, Coraaaaan, she's out and talking to us!" the Blue Paladin, Lance almost screamed in excitement. "And, you won't believe this, apparently she's a Paladin of Voltron?"  
"May I speak to the Castleship?" Coreall asked. "I can certify my position as he White Paladin."  
"They're just landing outside," the Yellow Paladin said. "You can come and meet them."  
"Yes Allura?" Keith said, seemingly talking to the Princess. "Alright." Taking his hand away from his ear, Keith announced "We are to escort you outside to wait for the Castle."  
"Can I go check on White first? It's been 10,000 cycles since I last saw her." Not waiting for an answer, Coreall got to her feet and stumbled to the end of the room, where a closed door was. After pressing her hand on the door, it opened, revealing a small huh hangar occupied by a Lion of Voltron. It was about the same size as the Green Paladin's, with white accents.  
Coreall stepped into the room and almost ran to her Lion. "Greetings White, did you miss me?" A purr came from White, and her head swung round to greet Coreall. Coreall hugged White's snout, before turning to see that the Green Paladin had followed her into the hangar. "Pidge, the Green Paladin, Guardian Spirit of Nature."  
Pidge looked slightly embarrassed at hearing all her titles. "That's the one and only me."  
"You are looking for your brother Matt Holt, are you not?"  
Pidge's eyes flew to Coreall's. "How did you- right, weird dreamy stuff."  
"He is surely alive and well," said Coreall, voicing what she knew Pidge wanted, needed to know. "And yes, it is weird dreamy stuff I suppose."  
Pidge snorted, before stepping forward and enveloping Coreall in a sudden hug. "Thanks," she whispered.  
"No problem," Coreall replied. Pidge quickly ended the hug and stepped back, an awkward silence arising. "Well, we had better go, should we not?"  
"Yeah." They headed back into the first room, where Hunk and Lance were having a quiet conversation whilst Keith stood off to one side.  
"I am ready to go," Coreall said.  
"Great," said Lance. "C'mon Mullethead."  
"Shut it cargo pilot." Coreall frowned at the two bickering Paladins, before turning to Pidge. "They are together, aren't they? They certainly act like it." Pidge laughed loudly, earning surprised glances from the others. "They keep denying it, but Hunk and I aren't fooled," she replied, smirking at Keith and Lance.  
The conversation turned to other topics, and Coreall felt an attachment forming to the Green Paladin. Before long, they were outside, and Coreall watched the Castle land in front of her tower with nostalgia.

_"Coreall, look!" She was a youngling, and a boy with blue hair and violet eyes showed her the rocks he had collected from an expedition to a planet on the edge of the galaxy. "This one looks just like your eyes!"_   
_"Take me there next time you go," she begged. "Please!"_   
_"Of course, once you're older," he said. "I know that Blue will love you!"_

Coreall waited patiently as the pod flew up to the ship, and stepped off it once it had docked. The interior was just how she remembered it, the soft turquoise lights lighting up the corridors. As she walked towards the bridge, she began to shake with excitement at the thought of seeing her princess again.  
Most of the Paladins had stayed on the surface, but Keith had elected to take her to the control room. She could feel the suspicion oozing off him, and said, "Alteans are much stronger than humans. If I wanted to harm you, I could have done it easily earlier."  
Keith stopped and turned his head to her. "Was that a threat?" he asked coldly.  
"No, I was merely stating that if this was a trap, it would already have sprang and you would be dead or captured." She continued walking, hoping that would settle some of the Red Paladin's doubt.  
Coreall paused at the door to the control room, and took a deep breath before answering. It was a good thing she did, as as she saw Princess Allura standing there, looking as beautiful and radiant as the day she had last seen her, any thoughts of breathing were pushed out of Corrall's mind. "My Princess," she said, dropping to one knee, "it is an honour to meet with you again."  
"Co... reall?" Corrall's heart skipped a beat as she looked past the Princess to see an orange-haired man, his eyes wide open.  
"Nefar," she breathed. "Nefar!"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I couldn't resist the klance :)  
> Thanks for reading!


	5. Chapter 4: Reunited Part 2

Keith had been prepared for several things to happen when the girl entered the control room. He had expected them to attack Allura, set off a bomb of some sort, turn on him, but what he had not was for her to dash across the room and fiercely hug Coran. She was yelling, "Nefar!"  
Allura looked just as confused as he was. "Coran, what's going on?" she queried. There was no answer from the two, before Coran gently freed himself and answered, "This is Coreall, and she is my umar. My niece."  
Keith was shocked, to say the least. This Altean girl was Coran's relative? At least it pretty much ruled out the possibility of her being a spy. "How?" he forced out. The reuniting of Coran and the girl, Coran's niece, was painful in the current circumstances, and he could feel his throat closing up.  
"Yes, how Coreall?" Coran asked. "What happened after Allura and I were put into cryo-sleep? Why are you a Paladin? What happened to everybody?"  
"Oh," she replied, glancing away for a moment. "I suppose I must tell you, must I?"  
"Please," Allura said. "What happened?"  
"Um, after you and Coran were hidden on Arus, we continued the war. It... didn't go well." The Altean paused for a second, before continuing. "After some cycles, King Alfor made a decision. He and the most talented of our people made a new Lion of Voltron: the White Lion. I was chosen as its Paladin. The war got progressively worse. One by one..." Her voice trailed off, and the girl swallowed. "...we Paladins were killed or captured and tortured. Soon, it was just me left. The King decided that the Lions would be hidden away, and I was hidden with White. I only started to dream a few millennia later, and by then-" tears started to fall from the Paladin's eyes, "-Altea was... gone." A silence fell across the control room.  
"Thank you," Allura said, and Keith could see her strong mask cracking. Coran was silent and stoic, a hand on the girl's shoulder. "If I may ask... how did you contact us?"  
"I am the Guardian Spirit of Quintessence. My duty was to be an aid to the main Paladins. I am the stand-in, and a healer. One of my granted powers is being able to contact the other Paladins in my sleep through my dreams or when I meditate." The Altean rubbed her eyes and stood up straight. "I am at your service as the White Paladin, Princess Allura."

* * *

 

Coreall splashed water on her face. After talking with the Princess for vargas, she had been granted rooms in the Castle and been allowed to bring White into the Black Lion's roomy hangar. It was surprising, the effect the absence of the Black Paladin had on the team. She was going to have to work hard to get him back. "Well, no time like this tick," she said to herself.  
Coreall left her room and headed towards the Black Lion's hangar. Entering it, she saw the Black Lion sitting stiffly with its particle barrier up. Her own White was curled up nearby, nearly half the size of Black. "Hey White," she said aloud. "I might need your help with this." The Lion's tail flicked in answer. Coreall sighed. Her Lion had been given more control over their body compared to the originals, and she seemed intent on acting just like a real lion.  
Coreall sat in front of the Black Lion, aware of White giving her mental support. She closed her eyes, and slowed her thoughts. Soon she had fallen into a half trance, and the borders around her mind fell away.  
Coreall opened her eyes to find herself standing in the astral world, accompanied by White and Black. Five coloured stars shone brightly in the sky, representing the Paladins. After they had become bonded to their Lions, she had lost the ability to reach out into the universe, and the rest of the stars glittered dimly. However, it came with other powers. "Black, will you speak to me?" Correall's voice echoed strangely in the ethereal world.  
_White Paladin,_ the Black Lion rumbled.  
"Please, what happened to-"  
"Why are you here?!" The world dissolved into black ink, and Coreall felt herself falling, falling-  
She wrenched open her eyes to find herself lying on her back, with Keith glaring down at her. She got to her feet, scowling. "Never, _never_ do that again," she growled, prodding the Red Paladin's boldly. "I hate it when people interrupt my meditation."  
"Well, why were you taking a nap in the middle of here anyway?" Keith said accusingly. "Why didn't you do your 'meditation' somewhere else?"  
Coreall knew she shouldn't argue with the team, but the blatant insult of her meditation riled her. "Because I was trying to contact Black!" she exclaimed. "I was trying to help, and you made it fall apart!"  
"Woah, woah, what's going on?" Lance entered the room looking worried.  
"Keith interrupted my meditation!" Coreall fumed. "I was in the right mind-state and sometimes it takes quiznaking days for me to get there and I was just trying to help and find Shiro-"  
"What?!" Keith practically screamed.  
"You know what happened to Shiro?!" Lance added.  
"Oh, yeah." Coreall shifted her foot uneasily. "He's safe, I know that."  
"Why didn't you say earlier?!" Keith was furious now.  
"I, I wanted to find out where he was before telling you," Coreall mumbled, feeling like a small child. "I'm really sorry."  
"You still should have said! Alright, I'm out." Keith stormed out of the room. Coreall made to follow him, but a look from the Blue Paladin stopped her.  
"I-I'm sorry, I truly am," she said.  
"Don't worry, his mullet just makes him hot-headed."  
Coreall giggled. "A... mullet?"  
"Hairstyle. Um, can you really find Shiro?"  
"Yes, if I can communicate with the Black Lion. Unfortunately, we're not on the best of terms right now." Lance opened his mouth but Coreall spoke before he could. "Please, I would rather if you didn't ask."  
"Ok. Well, this is still really good news, so we should totally tell the others."  
"Yes." As they walked together towards the main room, where Lance predicted Hunk and Pidge would be, Coreall murmured, "Anyway, Keith started it."  
Lance burst out laughing, and Coreall wasn't sure whether to be insulted or not. "Sorry," he said, hands on his knees, "it's just that my little sister back on Earth uses that excuse all the time."

_"Coreall!" The Altean boy with blue hair was grinning with pure joy. "Coreall!"_

Coreall's eyes suddenly filled with tears, and she rubbed them vigourously.  
"Everything good?" Lance was looking at her with concern.  
"I'm fine. Let's go tell the others the good news."  
"Yeah!" Lance threw his hands in the air. "We're gonna be reunited with Shiro!"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading!  
> "Nefar" and "umar" are meant to mean "uncle" and "niece" in Altean.  
> The next chapter is quite a bit longer and lighter; bonding moments coming up! :)  
> Constructive criticism is always appreciated!


	6. Chapter 5: Bonding

The other inhabitants of the Castle had been shocked when they learnt that Coreall could most likely locate the Black Paladin. Allura and Coran had been supportive and said they would help any way they could, Hunk had been excited and happy, and Pidge had been overjoyed and impatient for Coreall to find Shiro.  
However, Keith was still avoiding Coreall. Then, the next day, after a breakfast of food goo that was better than any Coreall had ever had (it was made by Hunk), she encountered him on the training deck.  
Coreall had been wanting to brush up on her combat skills, especially after having slept for 10,000 cycles. She had fetched her Bayard and dressed in her Paladin armour and had walked into the training room to find Keith destroying a training robot. She noticed that he was on Level 6, a high level for any Paladin who had not been connected to a Lion for less than a year.  
"You're really good," Coreall commented after Keith ended the training session and realised she was present. He grunted a thanks, before walking past her to leave the room. _Now or never._  "Train with me?" she asked.  
Keith stopped in the doorway. "You want me to train with you?" he said.  
"Yes. You're obviously talented and I could do with a challenge."  
"You want to spar?"  
"I suppose. Yes."  
"...Ok then." He turned and walked back into the room. Coreall activated her Bayard, and it transformed into a halberd.  
"Ready?" she smirked. Although Keith was talented, she had the strength of an Altean and years of practise with her Bayard.

Coran was just passing the training room when he heard the clash of weapons. He decided to pop up to the observation deck to see what was going on. He expected to see Keith, but what he hadn't expected was to see Coreall, his little Coreall, duelling him.  
They darted around the room, coming together and falling apart with the speed and grace of Nizarian dancers.  
It was a shock to see his niece all grown up, especially in the armour of a Paladin. He had seen her just before he went into the pod, as a youngling of just eleven cycles. That wide-eyed, round-faced child was very different from the young woman he saw now. Suddenly, there was a clang, and Coreall slipped past Keith's guard and sent his Bayard flying across the room with a flick of her spear, swinging it up to Keith's throat. Coran blinked. Hadn't it been a halberd just a moment ago?  
"How... your Bayard... it changed..." Keith stammered.  
"It's called morphing. You'll be able to do it eventually. Anyway, well done!" Coreall gasped as Keith retrieved his Bayard. "You really are a talented fighter!" She gave Keith a small bow, as was custom. "It was an honour to spar with you."  
"Whatever," replied Keith. "Same to you." He left the training room, leaving Coreall alone in the middle of the floor. She glanced around before Coran entered the room, carrying a pouch of water.  
"That was astonishing, Coreall!" he announced. "You were like a herdrian radurk!"  
"Thanks Nefar," she replied with a hint of surprise, gratefully taking the pouch and drinking from it. "The Red Paladin was an enjoyable opponent. I assume you were watching."  
"For some of it." The two stood in silence for a number of ticks, before Coran said, "When I went in the cryo-pod, one of my last thoughts was that I'd never see you again."  
"I..." Coreall was silent. "My last thought was the same. But here you are; it's like a dream." With that, Coreall hugged Coran. He hugged her back, wishing he could hold on and never let go.

Coreall wandered along the Castle corridors. She was looking for the kitchen, as she was feeling hungry after the duel. Keith had pushed her hard, even if he had been momentarily shocked when she had morphed her halberd into a spear.  
"Quiznak!"  
Coreall looked around, caught off guard. Who was that? She cautiously walked around the corner to find the Green Lion's hangar, with the Green Paladin lying face down on the floor.  
"Hello..." said Coreall, unsure of the situation.  
"Go away, I'm having an existential crisis." Pidge groaned.  
"A... sorry, what?"  
Pidge rolled over. "Never mind." Then she sat up, and stared at Coreall intensely. "You're Altean."  
"Um, yes." Pidge abruptly jumped up and grabbed her by the arm, dragging her into the hangar. She pushed Coreall in front of a holographic screen, displaying lines of Altean.  
"What does this mean?" Pidge demanded.  
"Don't you have a translating program?"  
"I do, but..." The small girl sighed. "The thing is, this is from Green, and she refuses to let me translate it. I only know a few words of Altean."  
"Oh." Coreall laughed lightly. "I do remember the Green Lion being a force to contend with. This reads..." Coreall laughed loudly this time.  
"What? What's so funny?" asked Pidge hotly.  
"It says _A note to my Paladin, please stop the mice from getting in here, they have an overwhelming desire to chew through your wires and its tiring having to chase them out. Your Earth cats may like to chase mice, but I certainly don't. Yours truly, Green._ "  
Pidge stood stock still for almost a dobash, before joining Coreall in laughter. "Seriously?! What the quiznak Green?! Don't worry, I'll get Allura to mention it to them."  
As Coreall stopped laughing, her eyes roamed around the room, landing on a box in a corner. "What's that?" she asked. "Is it yours? It doesn't look Altean."  
"Oh, that." Pidge glared at it. "It's a games console from Earth. I found it at the space mall."  
"Oh, yes..." Coreall hadn't really been paying attention to the younger Paladin's trip, she had been preoccupied.  
"Unfortunately, it's not compatible with Altean tech. Still, the space mall was fun, even if we got chased by a Galra cop whilst riding a cow. Come to think of it, what happened to Kaltenecker?"  
"Cow?" Coreall asked.  
"Big four-legged animal, moos." Pidge appeared to be thinking hard. "It just wandered around the ship for a few days, then we landed on that planet and..." Pidge gasped. "Hunk!"  
"What?" Coreall jumped at Pidge's sudden outburst.  
"Hunk traded the cow! I wondered how he paid for that chocolate substitute! How could he?! It was a special cow!" Pidge paced around the room, muttering darkly to herself. "Coreall... would you be interested in joining me in my revenge?" she asked, looking at Coreall with an evil glint in her eye.  
Interested, Coreall nodded. "Alright." Pidge cackled, a sound that Coreall was partly intrigued and partly terrified by, before scrambling over to the other side of the room to a vent cover. Beckoning for Coreall to follow her, Pidge lifted off the cover and disappeared into the vent system. Confused, Coreall followed her. "Just a question, where's the kitchen? I was looking for it before I found you."  
"The kitchen? That's where we're going."

Hunk hummed to himself as he experimented with spices. The revelation that the Altean girl, Coreall was her name he believed, could find Shiro had given him a shock. Therefore, he was cooking. Cooking was his comfort activity; he turned to it when he was stressed or worried. That seemed to be rather a lot recently, he reflected.  
A rattle sounded outside in the corridor. Hunk paused in opening a jar of what looked like some sort of powder. "Hello?" he called out. Nothing or no one replied. He returned to his cooking, assuming it was just one of the space mice. Or Slav. Where was Slav actually? Nobody had heard anything of him since the battle with Zarkon... "Nope, not thinking about that. Nope nopity nope."  
The rattle sounded again. Hunk frowned, put down the jar, and walked out into the corridor. Nobody there. "Space mice?" Shrugging, Hunk walked back into the kitchen. He grabbed for the jar of powder- where had it gone? He searched the table top. Not there. He looked around the floor. Not there either. He even checked in the cupboards, but it had completely disappeared. "What the heck?" he said to himself. Suddenly, there was a cackle. Then another one. "P-Pidge?" The cackling continued. "This isn't funny anymore. Where are you? The vents?"  
Then there was a scream. Hunk was close to screaming himself. Maybe the Castle was becoming like that incident ages ago again? However, before he could get truly nervous, the vent cover in the ceiling popped off and something fell out of the opening. He jumped away, hiding behind the counter.  
"Who the lipaz are you?! What were you doing in the ventilation system?! Pidge, who is this?" The cackling was more laughter now, and Hunk saw Pidge peering out of the open vent entrance. He peered over the counter to see Coreall wrestling Slav on the floor, a tiny dagger in her hand. "Do I kill them or not?" Coreall was agitated, her voice squeaky. "They just came up behind me and said something about percentages and realities!"  
"That's Slav," Hunk answered, standing up. "He's annoying, but harmless."  
"There is a 67.3 percent chance that you will kill me and a 71.8 percent chance that you will injure me. Would you mind putting that dagger away?" Slowly, Coreall got off Slav and slid the dagger into her armour.  
"So, Pidge." Hunk stared up at her, hanging from the opening.  
"Yeees," she replied.  
"Was that you making the rattle, and was it you who stole my jar."  
"Ah, sorry, the jar was me." Coreall raised her hand. "It's a poison, you know. Don't know what it's doing there, somebody must have mixed it up."  
"Poison?!" Hunk blanched. He had just nearly poisoned them all!  
"In 49 other realities, the Yellow Paladin did add the poison and it was fatal to the humans," Slav announced. There was a silence.  
"Anywaaaay," Pidge said after an awkward moment. "How dare you sell Kaltenecker!"  
"What!"  
"Kaltenecker was special!"  
"How were you planning to look after the cow? I gave it a better life!"  
"Still, it was special!"

Allura sat on her bed with a sigh. The space mice joined her, squeaking. "Thank you," she said, giving them a weak smile. "Don't worry about me, I will be fine." At least, she hoped she would be. It had been two quintants since the battle with Zarkon, only two, and so much had already happened. Revelations seemed to be coming thick and fast these days, and Allura felt she was falling behind. She looked up as a knock sounded on her door. "Who is it?" she queried.  
"It's me, Princess," came a voice. Allura identified it as belonging to the White Paladin. The most she had ever heard of Coreall before the cryo-pod was in passing from Coran, and she was still unsure of how to act around the girl. On one hand it was a relief to see another Altean, and on the other it was difficult to know there was another Lion she was not bonded to.  
"Come in," Allura called out. The door hesitantly opened, and Coreall peered into the room.  
"I didn't come at a bad time, did I?" Coreall asked.  
"No, don't worry about it," replied Allura, waving a hand. Coreall moved into the room and bowed before Allura.  
"Princess, I came to tell you some good news. I have successfully contacted the Black Lion and received information about the Black Paladin."  
"Have you? Oh that's wonderful news! Do you know where he is?"  
"Not quite. The Black Lion told me that he is safe and well, but the connection was disturbed."  
"Disturbed? How?"  
Coreall shifted on her feet, looking sheepish. "I... It was... The crazy person called Slav distracted me, and I had to... deal with him."  
"Oh."  
"He's not dead! White might still have her paw on him though..."  
"Well, this news is still great! I'm sure we'll be able to find Shiro, take all the time you need!"  
"Thank you!" A silence arose between them, before Coreall asked, "Princess, I'm sorry to bother you with this, but would you know where I could find some suitable clothing? I would not like to have to change back into that dress."  
"Of course!" Allura stood up. Here was something to distract herself with! It was a shame Pidge had never asked for this kind of help, she was even smaller and cuter than Coreall. "Let me help you!"  
Coreall looked surprised. "My greatest thanks Princess, but you need not concern yourself with this."  
"I insist!" Allura took Coreall's hand and dragged her towards the door that led to her extensive wardrobe. "I'll have great fun dressing you up- I mean, helping you find clothing that suits you!"

Lance looked at the small girl next to him. Coreall was slowly falling asleep, trying to stay awake as Pidge and him played the video game they had bought at the space mall. Coreall had learnt about the problem from Pidge, and she had brought it up at dinner with Coran. Coreall claimed he was a master at dealing with interplanetary issues, and, true to her word, he had come up with a solution quickly. That solution involved putting the connector lead into some sort of liquid, which was somehow connected to the holoscreen that the game was showing on. Well, it worked.  
A sudden noise from the game had Coreall sitting upwards suddenly, looking spooked. "Whawasat?" she mumbled.  
"Nothing, sleepyhead," Lance teased.  
"Don't take your eyes off the game Lance," Pidge said, pressing buttons on her controller.  
"What?" Lance turned to the screen to see his character get attacked by monsters, effectively overpowering him. "No!" He furiously fought off the monsters, but it was too late. His character died, and Pidge smirked.  
"It seems I win," she said smugly. "Five to two Lance. That's poor."  
"Rematch!" demanded Lance indignantly.  
"Your loss." Pidge shrugged, and restarted the game. Lance focused on the game, until a soft snore distracted him. He turned to see Coreall slumped on the floor, sound asleep. Pidge paused the game. "She's asleep," she commented.  
"Well done Sherlock," muttered Lance. "Where's her room?"  
"On the other side of Keith's," Pidge answered. "You carrying her?"  
"Yup," Lance replied, standing up. "We can continue tomorrow." He hefted Coreall onto his back, half expecting her to wake up. "Wow, she weighs less than you Pidgeon."  
"Are you saying I'm heavy? And don't call me Pidgeon." Pidge produced her Bayard from nowhere, waving it around menacingly.  
"Maybe." Lance left the room quickly, not wanting to risk Pidge's Bayard. He traversed the corridors, stopping occasionally to adjust Coreall. She shifted once, murmuring indecipherable words, and Lance remembered carrying his little sister like this once. He stopped as a flood of homesickness rushed through him, remembering the many happy memories of his family.  
"Blue..." Coreall said suddenly. "Don't worry..." Lance frowned. Was she dreaming or remembering something... Then he himself remembered what she had said when she had explained what had been going on in the meeting she had had with Allura. _"I can contact the Paladins in my sleep or in meditation."_  Had she picked up on his feelings? Lance sighed and continued on. Probably not.  
Once he reached Coreall's room, he opened the door and paused before he entered. The room was identical to all the others, only discernable by the White Lion slippers strewn on the floor. Lance smiled. He still thought it hilarious that the Castle actually provided them. Lying Coreall on her bed, he tucked her in. Coreall was definitely cute, he decided. The grey, white and blue outfit that Allura had picked out for her suited her well.  
"Goodnight Coreall," Lance said as he left the room. "Sweet dreams." He turned to see Keith leaving his room. Keith noticed him, and scowled.  
"What are you doing?" he asked, not without hostility.  
"Coreall fell asleep and I took her back to her room," Lance replied. "Jealous, dropout?"  
"Why would I be?"  
"Do you want me to wish you goodnight as well?" Lance asked flirtatiously. "Or even... kiss you goodnight?"  
"No!" Keith pushed past Lance and stalked off, seemingly infuriated. However, Lance swore he had seen a blush on Keith's cheeks as he'd walked away.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you enjoyed this chapter! It's been the most fun to write yet :)  
> I hope I can make more of the chapters this long in the future. Also I think halberds are cool so I had to give Coreall one.  
> Thanks for reading and constructive criticism is appreciated!


	7. Chapter 6: Alone

Shiro groaned. Where was he? Last thing he remembered was flying Black, fighting Zarkon...  
The Paladins! Shiro jerked his head up, any drowsiness gone. He was lying on some sort of rocky surface, and he believed he could hear the sound of water somewhere near. There was no sign of the Paladins, or Black, or any Galra. In fact, there was no sign of anyone at all.  
Sitting up, Shiro took in the area in more detail. He was on some sort of platform, with some sort of lake to his left and a steep slope to his right. Peering down the slope, he could see some sort of vegetation. It appeared to be a small forest, but with shrubs instead of trees. They were a pale yellow colour.  
A pang of pain ran through Shiro's body. Looking at his left leg, there was a long but shallow cut running down his calf, where something had somehow pierced his armour. As he stood up, he realised that his ankle seemed to be twisted as well.   
He hobbled over to the lake, and examined it closely before dipping the tip of his finger in. It appeared to be plain water. Glancing around warily, Shiro slid his leg into the water. The lake seemed to be entirely surrounded by a flat rocky ledge, and beyond that he could see some large hills.  
What had happened to him? Shiro was confused. He wondered if the other Paladins - Keith, Hunk, Pidge and Lance - were safe. Could they also be on this planet? He needed to get moving.  
"First, find something to help me walk," he muttered to himself. Shiro staggered to his feet and struggled down the hill. Towards the bottom, his foot slipped and he fell over, rolling the last few yards. He grunted and looked around him  
The shrub forest seemed to extend for miles, with the odd slightly taller tree. Shiro made for the nearest one of these, where he broke off a branch and used it as a makeshift staff. He looked around again, before seeing a small structure of some sort. Finally, some sign of people! Shiro walked as quickly as he could towards it. As he reached the structure, he saw that it was a pile of rocks stacked neatly on top of each other. The top rock was freshly painted white with an orange sigil. This proved there was civilisation on this planet, or someone had recently visited in the past few days. As Shiro glanced around the rocks, he saw the faint traces of a trail leading off, away from the raised lake. He cast his eyes back towards the spot where he had landed before starting down the track. He bent down as he caught sight of a small object on the ground. It seemed to be some sort of glass shard, a burnished red in colour.  
Shiro frowned, and pocketed it. He continued along the path, wondering where it would lead to. As he glanced up at the sky, he saw that the sun was falling towards the horizon at an alarmingly fast rate. Already the hues of sunset were beginning to taint the sky.  
All of a sudden, Shiro heard a rustling in the bushes. He froze. Was it hostile? He was in no position to defend himself with his injured leg. The rustling continued, getting louder. Shiro readied himself, preparing to activate his Galra arm. A small animal popped out onto the path. It had the ears of a fox, the tail of a rabbit, and the body of a cat. It was no bigger than Shiro's hand. It looked up at him, twittered, and raced away. He relaxed. It didn't seem to be a threat.  
The sunset was spectacular now, staining the sky in purples and reds. Shiro wondered what he would do when night fell. It was probably going to be cold, and he had no shelter...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I thought we'd see what was going on with Shiro! This takes place whilst the others are discovering Coreall, so it's not contradicting what Coreall said in the previous chapter.  
> Thanks for reading!


	8. Chapter 7: Stand-In

"Paladins! Time for some training!" Coran was chipper as he bounded into the room. "Can't have you all falling out of practice, can we?"  
Coreall watched her fellow Paladins groan. Well, everybody except Keith, and Allura was off somewhere doing something.  
"Must we?" asked Lance, who was lounging on the cushioned bench in the centre of the room. Hunk looked like he had been about to ask the same thing.  
"The past Paladins would train for four vargas everyday!" Coran announced.  
"It was three," Coreall corrected.  
"Oh yeah Coreall, what were the previous Paladins like?" asked Pidge, who had been absorbed in her computer until then. "Like, the other ones, Green, Red and Blue."  
"Um, there was Tamira, the Red Paladin," Coreall replied. "She was very similar to Keith here, except a little more level-headed."  
"Hey!"  
"Fenrl, who was the Green Paladin, he had the largest collection of plants I'd ever seen, and was half-Olkari, I think. And then there was... the Blue Paladin... Ronir..." Coreall tailed off. "He was very kind..." she mumbled, fighting a lump in her throat.

_"Coreall, it's hard being a Paladin, but we're doing our duty to defend the universe. When being a Paladin is the most difficult thing you've ever done, and you wish you could run away and hide, just think of all the people and planets that are depending on you." The boy with bright purple eyes turned and smiled at her warmly, the sunset softly illuminating his skin. "That's what I always think of when I'm at my lowest."_

"They sound pretty cool," said Lance, getting up and stretching.  
Coreall swallowed, and adopted a jovial air. "Come on, let's train!"  
"Coreaaaaaaall, why?" moaned Pidge, glaring at her. Pidge then threw her arms in the air melodramatically. "Betrayal!"  
"Why are you annoyed, training helps you to better yourself." Coreall walked across the room towards the door. "I'll be back in a few dobashes."  
"You sound like Keith!" Lance yelled. "Do you have midnight training sessions too? Together?"  
"Lance, what-" Keith's voice sounded.  
"Guys, chill. The training won't take too long... hopefully."

* * *

 

"What the heck Coreall?!" You're Allura junior!" Lance screamed as he avoided a shot from a training bot. He had been hoping that the training session would be nice and easy since Allura wasn't there, but that wasn't the case. Coreall was nearly as bad as Allura, pushing them further and further. She had introduced to them a new exercise, one that faced them off against each other in two v two matches. It... hadn't gone well. Keith and Hunk had been scary opponents, and had taken Pidge and him out in seconds. At least now they had returned to more familiar waters... "Eeep!"  
"The Blue Paladin is out! Now only the White and Red Paladins are left!" Coran's commentary sounded across the room as the floor opened up beneath Lance's feet and he fell through. He joined Pidge and Hunk, who were watching Coreall and Keith with some degree of awe.  
The two moved in sync as they fended off the training bots, back to back in the centre of the room. It took another few minutes before Coreall slipped and they both tumbled through the floor.  
"That was incredible you guys!" exclaimed Hunk as they reunited in the training room. "Nobody's ever lasted that long before!"  
"Once I had seen Keith fight a few times, I got to know how he worked and adapted my defence style to fit his. But really, it's quite simple once you know someone," replied Coreall offhandedly. "Still, my slip at the end was awful. I apologise for that Keith."  
"Don't worry about it." Lance frowned as he watched the two interact. There was nothing more than a friendship between them... wasn't there? His musing was interacted by Allura skidding into the room as alarms blared suddenly.  
"Paladins!" she announced. "There is a Galra battleship approaching! They are about to attack, and we need to retaliate!"  
"How did they find us?!" Pidge exclaimed. "I thought we'd sorted that."  
"Pure bad luck, I have to admit," Allura answered. "Paladins to your Lions!"  
Everybody was about to leave before Coreall called, "Princess, wait!"  
"What is it?" Allura asked impatiently.  
"The Galra will be expecting the Black Lion to be there. If it is not present, they may suspect something is wrong."  
Allura stopped, a worried expression appearing on her face. "That is true."  
"Princess Allura," Coreall continued. "Please, give me the permission to pilot the Black Lion."  
There was a stunned silence, before Keith exploded. "What the hell are you talking about?! First you come here and say all this stuff about finding Shiro and knowing where he is, and now you want to replace him! You think you're good enough to replace him! You're nothing, nothing compared to the man he is!"  
Coreall stood, impassive. "I would not dream of that. I have no wish to be the Black Paladin. But as the White Paladin, my duty is to stand in for the other Paladins if they are not able to fight. That is the reason why my post was created." A flash of emotion flitted across Coreall's face. "I have done it several times before... in worse situations than this."  
"...Very well." Lance's eyes shot to Allura.  
"You agree with this too!" Keith yelled, his face contorted into a grimace of anger.  
"She is the White Paladin, and it is her duty." Allura's voice hardened. "And I order you to go along with this, as your commander."  
Keith quieted, before turning and leaving the room. Allura motioned for them to go, and Lance followed the others. Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed Coreall wiping her face on her arm, her eyes watering.

* * *

 

It had hurt, what Keith had said. Coreall had refused to let it show in front of the others, but his angry words had cut her to her core, even though they were out of loyalty to the Black Paladin. Now she was alone however, she couldn't stop the tears flowing.  
"Coreall." She started, and turned to see Lance behind her. She didn't know what to do until Lance hugged her tightly. She held on tightly, sobs shaking her body. Lance looked down at her kindly. "Go do your job, okay?"  
"...Okay." Coreall straightened and wiped her eyes. "Thank you Lance." She smiled at him weakly, and turned to walk down the corridor. "You do yours too."  
When Coreall entered the hangar, White was nudging the Black Lion, already aware of the situation. "Sorry White," she said to her Lion, before raising her voice. "Black Lion of Voltron, I beg that you allow me to temporarily pilot you in place of the Black Paladin. I apologise in advance for sitting in his place and hope that you will concede."  
Silence. Coreall hoped that the Black Lion would allow her. She had piloted the Blue and Red Lions before, but she had never had close contact with the Black Lion. This would definitely work against her. If she couldn't pilot the Black Lion, she would let the team down, and probably further alienate Keith. She had to do this, she had-  
 _White Paladin._  Coreall looked up to see the Black Lion lower their head and open their mouth.  
"Thank you, thank you!" cried Coreall, forgetting courtesy in her relief. She ran up to the Lion and stroked its snout, before entering it. She could do her job, she could support the team by standing in for the Black Paladin.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I think of Coreall as presenting quite a strong front to the others, but inside she's really fragile. I feel that Allura's personality is also similar, and Coran's too. I mean, they haven't had time to grieve for the loss of Altea at all really.  
> And I'm not really sure about Coreall's and Keith's relationship. They're fine when they're fighting, but apart from that they don't really get on... I think?  
> Thanks for reading!


	9. Chapter 8: Battle

Hunk was unsure of what to think in the current situation. The idea of somebody other than Shiro piloting the Black Lion was weird, even if Coreall had said it was just temporary. The atmosphere was tense as they waited outside the castle for the Black Lion to arrive. He was reminded of just a few days ago, before they found Coreall and were nursing recent wounds.  
"Any sign of her?" asked Pidge, her Lion floating a short distance from Yellow.  
"No, not yet," replied Lance. "Wait, is that... it's the Black Lion guys, she did it!"  
The Black Lion came soaring out of the Castle to meet them. "Sorry I took a while," Coreall said breathlessly. "Where's the Galra fleet?"  
"Over that way," said Lance, swinging his Lion around to point in the general direction.  
"Shall we go?" Hunk questioned. Suddenly, the Red Lion took off, streaking away towards the Galra. "Hey, Keith!"  
"He's not responding," Pidge said. "I tried opening up a private link with him earlier and he wouldn't talk."  
"This is my fault," Coreall muttered.  
"Keith's choosing to act like this Coreall, it's not you," Lance said comfortingly. "Come on everybody, let's do this!"  
"Yeah!" Hunk exclaimed half-heartedly. The rest of the Lions followed Keith, who was far ahead of them. Hunk was abruptly hit by an important thought. "Do, uhhh, do we need a plan?"  
"Probably," said Pidge. "How about Lance goes and ices some stuff?"  
"Pidge, Lance, could you work together? Like Pidge said, Lance could use his ice cannon and immobilise the fighters, and Pidge can destroy them,." Coreall was taking charge, with a note of authority in her voice that Hunk hadn't heard before. "Hunk, if you do some attacking on the far side of the fleet, it will force them to split their defence. I shall join you. Keith... if you are listening, jump around the fleet and keep them on their toes."  
"Alrighty then," announced Lance. "That sounds good to me. Pidge, you good?"  
"Yup, I'll go along with that." The Blue and Green Lions sped off together, Lance already activating his ice cannon. Hunk found himself wondering how this fight would go (preferably well), and a familiar wave of adrenalin surged through his bloodstream.  
"Hunk?" The Black Lion hovered in front of Yellow.  
"Oh, yeah, sure, let's go kick some Galra butt!" Hunk followed Coreall around to the other side of the fleet. The Red Lion seemed to have the Galra's full attention. It dodged laser beam after laser beam, flitting around at high speed. Hunk really had to marvel at Keith's skill.  
"Ready Hunk?" Coreall's voice had a slight wobble to it, betraying her nervousness.  
"Ready as I'll ever be," he replied. They swooped into battle together, leaping forward to engage the Galra fleet. Hunk pounced on the nearest small ship, crushing it with his Lion's powerful claws. Yellow opened her mouth and let forth a laser beam, which swept along the hull of a larger spaceship, crippling it. Fighters streamed out of the ship, their sights set on the Lions. Out of the corner of his eye, Hunk saw the Black Lion activate its jawblade and drag it along the side of the battlecruiser, causing a flurry of explosions. He followed suit, causing another set of explosions on a different part.  
On the other side of the fleet, Hunk could see the distant shapes of Lance and Pidge's Lions, who seemed to be doing well. He scanned around for the Red Lion, only to be met by a barrage of enemy fire. He shot back at them, but every downed Galran fighter was replaced by another. "Hey, Coreall, or anyone else of course," Hunk said. "A little help here?"  
Suddenly, a wall of flame engulfed the fighters, and the Red Lion flew past. It turned quickly and set fire to another wave of Galra ships. "Thanks Keith!" said Hunk gratefully.  
"Paladins, this is Allura! The Castle is about to start supporting you!" Hunk noticed the Castleship nearing, it's protective forcefield already activated. It let loose a destructive beam that took out a chunk of the main fleet near Lance and Pidge.  
"Hunk, watch out!" Coreall yelled abruptly. Hunk turned to see the battlecruiser's ion cannon targeting him, and quickly began a series of evasive manoeuvres. The Black Lion approached the ion cannon and attacked it with the laser beam, but did little damage. "Keith, we need your flame attack! Please!"  
The Red Lion hovered motionless for a few heart-stopping seconds, before dashing in and delivering a crippling blow to the ion cannon.  
With the fleet's primary weapon unusable, the Paladins and the Castle quickly destroyed the Galra fleet. As the remains floated in the darkness of space, Lance cheered, "We did it guys! We did it!"  
"Yeah!" Hunk exclaimed, feeling euphoric.  
"Did you see when I did that epic move!" Pidge said loudly.  
"It was an honour to enter the battlefield with you," said Coreall. "I-" Her voice cut off without warning.  
"Coreall? Coreall?!"

* * *

 

 _White Paladin,_  the Black Lion intoned deeply. Coreall found herself in the astral world, with the Black Lion crouched in front of her.  
"Ah, why did you bring me here now?" asked Coreall, unsure whether to be angry or not.  
 _You seek the Black Paladin._  It was a statement, not a question, but Coreall replied anyway.  
"Yes, I do." Then, Coreall's eyes widened as the Black Lion moved aside to reveal Shiro standing a short distance away, looking slightly bewildered. He looked safe and well, except for a bandage on his left leg. As their eyes met, his bewildered expression turned to one of shock.  
"Who are you?" he queried.  
"My name is Coreall, and I am-" Inky blackness poured around Coreall, and information flashed across the forefront of her mind. She saw galaxies, planets, civilisations, landscapes. As the blackness closed in, she saw the route to the Black Paladin.

"Coreall!" She opened her eyes to see the interior of the Black Lion, and through the front the other Lions crowded around her.  
"Agh," she muttered, rubbing her head.  
"You're okay!" cried Pidge joyfully.  
"What happened?" asked Lance.   
"You're not hurt or anything?" said Hunk with evident panic in his voice.  
"I'm good. In fact, I'm fantastic." Coreall grinned. "I know where Shiro is, and how to find him!"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yay! Shiro!  
> I felt like I was neglecting Hunk, so I decided to give him most of this chapter. Also this is the first time I've written a battle scene involving spaceships and robots so it's probably really bad T-T (I'm usually writing about more fantastical mediaeval stuff)  
> Thanks for reading!


	10. Chapter 9: Friend

Shiro crouched down on the path. The darkness of night on this planet, coupled with his isolation was bringing back old memories that should have stayed buried. His breathing was fast and ragged as he fought back a panic attack. He relived a moment from his time with the Galra, a time of blood and pain and fear, and felt his heart leap into his throat.  
The isolation bothered him the most. It felt like he was alone in that cell again, trapped in total solitude. He would be grateful for any sort of company right now. Hell, he would even tolerate Slav.  
Shiro laughed, a dry mocking laugh that punctured the deafening silence. He thought he might be going crazy if he was prepared for the company of that irritating little...  
"Shut up!" he told himself. He glanced around the area furtively, wondering if there _was_  anybody who had just seen him talk to himself. In fact, wasn't talking to yourself a sign of madness?  
Absent-mindedly, Shiro picked the piece of glass from his pocket and attempted to study it in the little light there was. He thought he could feel some sort of etching on it, but he wasn't sure. He ran his fingers over the smooth surface repeatedly, finding comfort in the rhythmic action. Randomly, one of his fingers caught on the sharp edge, and a drop of blood fell onto the glass shard. It throbbed, a pulsating glow running through it.  
Shiro dropped the glass in surprise. As soon as it left his hands, the glowing stopped, and he could barely see it on the ground. But when Shiro picked it up again, the pulsing restarted. He struggled to make sense of what had just happened. Was this glass... thing dangerous, and why had it reacted to his blood? Before Shiro had time to ponder this further, he heard the buzzing noise of a spaceship's engines. Dropping to the ground commando-style, Shiro watched as the small ship buzzed along, just above the planet's surface. Finally, a sign of life! However, was it friendly?  
A searchlight scanned the ground, and Shiro paled slightly. Was it looking for him? How did they know he was here if they were? The ship came nearer, and something about it triggered a memory. It looked similar to that ship belonging to the... what were their names again?... aliens that had stolen the Blue Lion.  
Shiro tensed as the spotlight swept closer and closer, until with an agonising turn of the ship it landed on him. He supposed there was nothing else left to do, and got to his feet with his hands in a gesture of surrender. "I come in peace!" he shouted. Man, the others were going to freak when he got back and told them he said that. _If_  he ever got back to them.  
The spaceship landed in front of Shiro, and an opening in the side of it hissed open. Harsh light spilled out, illuminating a humanoid silhouette. The figure jumped down from the ship and came towards Shiro.  
As it neared, it resolved itself into a person that Shiro had never, never been expecting to see anytime soon.  
"Matt?"

" _Shiro_?" The voice was one of absolute surprise. The man in front of Shiro was recognisable as his best friend of seven, no, eight, years, but only just. His hair was longer, he carried some sort of staff, and he was dressed in unfamiliar clothes of alien make, but he still had the same searching, intelligent eyes.  
"Matt?" Shiro repeated, dumbfounded. "Is it really you?"  
"Shiro... Shiro!" Matt threw aside his staff and leapt at Shiro unexpectedly. Matt threw his arms around him, hugging him tightly. Shiro froze for a moment, before returning the hug.  
"I..."Shiro extracted himself from Matt's arms and looked down at him. Matt was marginally shorter than Shiro, but it had been enough to make fun of in the past.  
"I thought you were dead!" Matt yelled. "You were heard to have just disappeared one day, and I had no idea what happened to you!"  
"Well, it's a long story..."  
"Wait, are you injured?" Matt crouched down to look at the cut on Shiro's leg. "Come on, come inside." Matt guided him inside the ship, where he was greeted by a familiar creature.  
"I remember you!" exclaimed Shiro as the small cat-fox-rabbit thing jumped onto Matt's shoulder.  
"This is Tefari, she's a scout. She can't speak but she's very effective at communicating through calls and actions." Matt patted the creature on the head, and it made a noise that could only be described as a purr. "Tefari's the one that told us you were here."  
"Matt, who's this?" An alien with dark pink skin and two sets of arms peered through a doorway, a sword in their hand. "Are they friendly?"  
"His name is Takashi Shirogane, and he's none other than my best friend, the one I told you about!" Matt said proudly.  
The alien gasped in surprise, their black-blue eyes largening. "Champion," they murmured respectfully.  
"Hey, Xia, where's the first aid kit?"  
"You mean the medical supplies, I'll fetch them right away." The alien slid away silently.  
"So, how did you escape? Pidge knew these rebels freed you, but what happened after that?"  
"Well, I decided to take a stand against the Gal- who's Pidge?"  
"Oh, um," Shiro decided to say it bluntly. "Katie."  
Matt's eyes widened. "Katie?! What the hell is Katie doing out here? How did she even get off Earth? Where is she?"  
"Well, I suppose I should tell you everything..." Shiro began the tale of returning to Earth, finding the Blue Lion and everything that had happened up to the battle with Zarkon. As he recounted the freeing of the Balmera, the alien, Xia, returned and Matt bandaged Shiro's leg, as well as adding a splint to his injured ankle. "...and then I woke up on this planet, and there's nothing more to say really," Shiro finished.  
"I have questions," announced Matt. "Many, many questions. And you must answer them all."  
Here was the Matt Shiro remembered. Always asking questions, always curious. However, his personality had become more determined and confident. But a personality change wasn't a bad thing."Sure," Shiro replied. "I would be delighted to."

Shiro had been with the Resistance, as Matt insisted on calling them (he had always been a Star Wars fan) for several days when the dream came. He had recognised the astral plane, but he had not recognised the young-looking girl standing there, dressed in the armour of a Paladin. She appeared to be Altean, with bright ocean blue hair and pink markings.  
_"My name is Coreall, and I-"_  
"Hey, Shiro! Wake up!" Shiro flicked open his eyes to see Matt standing in the centre of the main room of the spaceship. "You fell asleep on the couch!"  
"Is it even a couch?" groaned Shiro as his back moaned in protest. "More like the evil bench that has a thing against comfort." He pressed a hand to his forehead and frowned as he recounted the dream.  
"What is it?" asked Matt. "That's your confused face."  
"Matt..."  
"What?"  
"... I think Voltron is coming."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Surprise!  
> Matt had to come back, I like him and wanted an excuse to write a Holt reunion scene. Mwahahaha!  
> On a side note, I've taken headcannons that I like and run with them, but often I don't remember where they came from. Also Tefari is going to have a part to play, she's cute and I needed a cat type thing to put in here.  
> Thanks for reading!


	11. Chapter 10: Rainbows and Rec Rooms

Coreall stood by the window, looking out at the incredible solar system they were passing through. It had seven planets of seven different colours, all with three moons. They orbited a bright yellow star, verging on blue.   
As they passed the nearest planet, a purpley-pink in colour, she heard the door open behind her. "Isn't this solar system just beautiful," she said to whoever it was.  
"Mmm hm," said Pidge, coming and standing next to her. "It's like a rainbow."  
"Rainbow?"  
"When light passes through a prism or water droplets, it retracts into seven different colours, red orange yellow green blue indigo and violet. Well, technically it's six, indigo and violet are just purple, but it's stuck as seven on Earth."  
"I think a friend showed me that once. We called it a collach." The two stood in silence for a while, before an idea occurred to her, and Coreall asked, "How long until we reach the planet?"  
"Oh, a few hours." Coreall had come to recognise the different names for time periods, and translated it accordingly.  
"I might go look at something. I believe the Castle has one."  
"What? If it's a pool, don't bother."  
"No, not a pool. I think it's called a relaxation room."  
"What, like a rec room?"  
"Um, maybe?" Coreall wandered through the Castle. She thought rec rooms, as she was now calling it, were usually on upper floors, but she wasn't sure. Pidge was following her, probably out of curiosity, and Coreall wouldn't like to embarrass herself in front of the Green Paladin, whom she felt an admiration for.  
Coreall frowned as she passed a closed doorway. She stopped, and examined the door. "I think this is it!" she exclaimed, and touched the door. It slid open, revealing a large room filled with tables, comfy looking chairs and holoscreens.  
"Wow!" Pidge said as she entered the room. "I never knew there was a room like this! Why haven't Allura and Coran told us? Coreall, wait here. I'm going to get Hunk and Lance." Pidge left the room quickly, leaving Coreall alone.  
Coreall pressed a button on the wall and one of the holoscreens lit up, showing a video of a group of Alteans. With a jolt of surprise, she recognised one of them as Coran, and another as Fenrl. "Well, today was a good day!" Coran was saying. "I found some spazerian for the Lions! We'll have them built in no time!" Coreall gasped. Here was video evidence of the time before Voltron, from times when the bond between Galra and Altea were strong. Tears blurred her vision, and she shut down the video quickly.  
"Guys, you gotta see this!" That was Pidge's voice. Coreall wiped the tears from her face and pretended to be occupied with a game set as Pidge, followed by Lance and Hunk, walked in.  
"Woah," said Hunk. "Cool!"  
"Hey Coreall!" greeted Lance. "How dare Allura and Coran not tell us about this, right Hunk?"  
"I have to agree with you there Lance."  
Coreall turned to them, smiling brightly as she held up a box. "I have to show you our traditional Altean game!" she grinned. "Bring-sarte!"

Coreall pondered her next move. If she moved her lion sideways, she would take Hunk's weblum, but at the cost of her thirb. But if she moved her thirb and ignored the weblum, it would destroy two of her planets. She decided to sacrifice her thirb, and with a grimace, she picked up her lion and moved it four spaces to the left. "Ha!" she announced, plucking the carved wooden figure of the weblum off the board.  
"Never mind, it brought back bad memories anyway," replied Hunk. "And anyway, I can take your... birdy-thing!"  
"Thirb," Coreall corrected.  
"Right, thirb." Hunk moved his own lion and knocked the thirb over. Whilst he did this, Coreall glanced across the room to where Pidge and Lance were messing around with one of the interactive holoscreens, drawing what she thought might be inappropriate... things. "Your move."  
Coreall looked back to the board and saw a quick and easy option to end the game. She moved her lion and placed a black hole on the board, trapping Hunk's battleship. "Sarte-bring!" she proclaimed triumphantly.  
"Aww," said Hunk. "Good game though. Reminds me of chess."  
"Chess?"  
"Earth game a bit similar. Actually, Pidge is a master at chess, I think she would be great at this. She's even beaten Lance."  
"It would be interesting to see a match between Coran and her."  
"Is Coran good?"  
"Nefar is amazing! He was Altea planet champion at least once!"  
"Wow, cool."  
"Hey guys, whatcha up too?" Lance sauntered over, hands in his pockets. "Pidge got too possessive over the drawing pen, so I left her alone."  
"She said at the Garrison once that she'd always wanted a drawing tablet, didn't she?" Hunk mentioned.  
"Yeah, but they were too expensive and she always needed the saved money for something else."  
Coreall watched the two interact with interest. She knew little about their lives before Voltron, apart from the few snippets she'd gleaned from mind-meld exercises and dreams. She knew that Lance had a very large family, whilst Hunk was an only child with doting parents. They had both met at the Garrison entrance exam, and bonded immediately. "Hey," she began, but was interrupted by Keith entering the room.  
"There y'all are!" he exclaimed. "The others are getting worried."  
"Oh, we've just been preoccupied," replied Lance. "Come check this out Mullet!" He beckoned Keith over to a table on the other side of the room. "Look, it's like a design your own weapon game! You could make a knife!"  
"Stop talking to me like I'm five," muttered Keith.  
"I heard that!" Lance shot back. The two descended into bickering, subsequently being ignored by the rest. Coreall was uncertain of what to say to Hunk, so she stood up and excused herself from his company. She wandered over to Pidge, who was completely absorbed in drawing.  
"Hi," she said quietly, surprising Pidge who nearly dropped her pen in shock. "What are you drawing?"  
"Oh, just a character from a tv show back on Earth." Pidge returned to sketching the hair, which spiralled down as pigtails from two buns.  
"You're really good," commented Coreall.  
"Thanks," replied Pidge, a small blush appearing on her cheeks. "I've only used a drawing tablet a couple of times before though, so really this isn't great."  
"Well I think it's amazing," said Coreall. "I can't draw for quiznak." Pidge laughed.  
"Oh, so this is where you've all been!" Coreall turned to see Allura entering the rec room. "I had forgotten about this room!"  
"Allura! How could you?!" shouted Lance from his spot next to Keith. "This is great!"  
"It had not been on my mind recently, but I used to spend most of my free time here," continued Allura, clapping her hands together. "It was a favourite room of the previous Paladins! However, on a more serious note, I came to inform you that we are nearly at the planet where Shiro is currently residing."  
"Whoop!" yelled Pidge, abandoning her drawing to jump into the air with exhilaration. Coreall leaned down and grabbed the pen from where Pidge had dropped it, a happy smile on her face.  
"We shall arrive in about ten dobashes. Would you be ready with your Lions by then?"  
"Sure Princess, anything for you," answered Lance. Allura ignored the obvious flirting and bid the group goodbye, saying she was heading to the control room. As she left, Keith announced he was going, and left the room too. Lance watched him go, before blushing profusely as Pidge accused him of 'pining'. "What the hell are you talking about?!" he spluttered.  
"Never mind, never mind," said Pidge breezily. "I'm going to see Green."  
"Wait, Pidge, take it back! Piiiiidge!" Lance hurried out of the room, closely followed by Hunk. Coreall found herself alone. She saved the drawing of the large-eyed girl Pidge had drawn before heading down to the Black, and now also the White Lion's hangar.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If anybody guessed who the character Pidge is drawing is (and the information's very vague), you get a cookie. Lots of cookies!  
> I like coming up with Altean names for things! It's fun! :)  
> Thanks for reading!


	12. Chapter 11: Together

Coreall sat herself down in the pilot seat of White. She closed her eyes and reached out to her Lion, letting the bond suffuse over her. White conveyed a feeling of interest and excitement in going to see this new planet, and Coreall smiled warmly. "Let's do this White!"  
She piloted the White Lion out of the Castle, and after meeting up with the others, they flew down to the planet's surface, which was covered with yellow vegetation accompanied by blue-green mountains. They spotted a small hamlet, no more than a collection of tents really, and agreed to land nearby. Coreall was the second to emerge from her Lion after Keith. Lance, Hunk and Pidge followed her.  
"Hello?" called Lance. "Anyone here?" There was silence.  
"People were here recently," said Keith, who had been examining around a small campfire. "There's still food in this pot."  
"Where could they be?" wondered Pidge.  
"We should wait here," Hunk said. "They'll most likely come back, won't they?"  
"I would imagine so," Pidge answered. Hunk plonked himself down on a rock, and let out a sigh.  
"These people will be able to tell us where Shiro is, I'm hoping," Hunk announced after a few minutes. "That's the plan, isn't it?"  
"Yup," replied Lance.  
Coreall's attention was drawing to a pile of cloths on the ground. It seemed to be moving slightly. Frowning in confusion, she approached the quivering bundle. All of a sudden, a small animal jumped out of the cloths in Coreall's direction, landing in her chest. It chattered angrily at her, large ears flared. She gasped, before squealing in delight as she recognised the species. "An indi!" she exclaimed, stroking it gently. It calmed down as it recognised she wasn't a threat, but was a bit lost at why this strange girl was so happy to see it.  
"A what?" Lance asked, turning towards her. "Wait, what the hell is that?!"  
"An indi," explained Coreall, hugging the now very confused creature. "They're really cute! I wanted one as a pet when I was little, but we couldn't find one as they are quite rare."  
"Hey, guys!" shouted Lance. "Come and look at this cat thing Coreall found!"  
"Hmmm?" Pidge walked over, before cooing over the indi. "It's adorable!"  
"What's adorable?" Hunk questioned. "Oh my gosh, that is adorable! I wanna hug it! Can I hug it?"  
"If it likes you," replied Coreall, holding the indi out to Hunk. He took it gingerly, but it refused to be held and instead made its way up to Hunk's shoulder, where it perched triumphantly.  
Out of the corner of her eye, Coreall noticed Keith stomping over. He stood a little apart from the rest, a grumpy expression on his face.  
"It seems to like me!" Hunk said happily as he tickled it under the chin. "Is it a boy or a girl?"  
"Girl I think," said Coreall. "A male's tail is bushier and a female's ears are bigger." The indi jumped back to Coreall, where it sat on her head and licked its paws nonchalantly.  
"Who are you?" The group turned in surprise to see an unfamiliar woman standing behind them, swords held in all four of their hands. Their expression was one of shock and anger. "What are you doing here?"  
"Um, we're Paladins of Voltron," Coreall said, trying to look confident and strong, although it was hard with an indi on her head. "We're searching for a friend of ours. He's quite tall, with black and white hair and a scar across his face. "Have you seen him by any chance?"  
"You mean the man who appeared here a few days ago? He wears armour like yours."  
"That's him, that's him!" exclaimed Lance. "Where is he?"  
"He is out with my friend."  
"Is he coming back soon?" asked Pidge, her face lighting up.  
"They will return in a while. But how have you come here? Do you intend to attack us?" The woman, which Coreall realised was of a race known as the Sivark, shifted her swords in her hands.  
"Why would we want to attack a beautiful lady like you?" asked Lance flirtatiously, making his signature finger gun pose. The rest of them groaned.  
"Not now Lance," reprimanded Pidge.  
"Um, we mean no harm to you," said Coreall, attempting to smooth over the situation. "All I ask is permission for our ship to land."  
"If you are true of heart and mean no harm to anyone on this planet, your ship may land. But if you injure anyone," the Sivak's voice dropped to a growl, "you will not last long."

* * *

 

Pidge watched the ship descend towards the ground and land swiftly. Allura exited the Castle and came to join them, an aura of happiness emanating from her as she learnt that Shiro really was here. She hugged Coreall unexpectedly, sounding chirpier than she had since Shiro had disappeared. She even got excited over the indi, who was still sitting on Coreall's head. "I wanted one as a youngling too," she said. "But my father got me the mice instead. Still, they're very dear to me now, even though I wasn't massively interested in them at first."  
"I never realised the mice were so old," commented Pidge, who was nearby. "On Earth mice rarely live above three or four years."  
"Really?" Allura asked curiously. "Our mice live for up to a hundred."  
"One hundred?!" Pidge was amazed. "So how old are Plachu and co.?"  
"Hmmm, about twelve. Not counting their 10,000 years cryo-frozen of course!"  
"They come." Pidge jumped, and peered behind her to see the alien, who had introduced herself as Xia. She had approached silently whilst Pidge and Allura had been talking. She pointed a finger into the distance. Pidge squinted. Sure enough, there were two distant figures.   
"Shiro, Shiro!" she yelled, euphoria thundering through her system. Pidge started to run, followed by Keith, Hunk and Lance.  
The figure to the right, after a moment of standing still, shouted and ran too. As they neared, Pidge recognised the fringe of white hair, the black Paladin armour and the scar across the nose. It really, truly was Shiro.   
Pidge flung herself into his arms, screaming.  
After a few seconds, the others joined her, all wrapping their arms around each other in a comforting group hug. Then Shiro extracted himself from the hug, held Pidge by the shoulders, and motioned at the other approaching figure. She stood stone still as she comprehended the person. It was, it was, it was-  
"Hi Katie," said Matt.   
Pidge screamed again. It was Matt, _Matt_! Mattmattmatt! She ran at her brother and hugged him the tightest she ever had. "I missed you so much," whispered Matt, and that was all it took for the tears to come, and suddenly she was bawling her eyes out, wrapped in her brother's arms for the first time in over a year and a half.

* * *

 

Coreall watched the exchange from afar. She didn't want to intrude on this precious moment, it would only complicate it. Beside her, Allura was trying to remain composed. As the happy group approached, Pidge hanging onto the other person's arm, Coreall nudged Allura. "Go on," she murmured.  
"Shiro," Allura announced formally, stepping forward. The Black Paladin looked up.  
"Princess Allura," he replied, just as formally. Then a smile broke out on his face. "It's good to see you again." Allura walked forward and unexpectedly hugged Shiro, squeezing him tight. He looked startled, before returning the embrace.  
Lance appeared near Coreall, grabbing her by the arm. "Come and meet Shiro!" he exclaimed, dragging her forward. He pushed her in front of Shiro, and Coreall looked up at the imposing man. She stood there awkwardly as he regarded her.  
"I am pleased to make your acquaintance," she said. "My name-"  
"You're the person I have to thank for finding me, aren't you?" Shiro asked. "Coreall, was it?"  
"Yes." Shiro paused, before hugging Coreall briefly. He released her quickly, and Coreall backed away, embarrassed by the contact. "I am the White Paladin, and my mission is to serve you as another member of Voltron."  
"Why so serious Coreall?!" Lance said excitedly, butting into the conversation. "Now is a time for celebration! Hunk, you need to make a celebratory dinner!"   
"Sure," Hunk replied. "If I can get the ingredients."  
"Guys." They all turned to see Pidge with the other person, who bore an uncanny resemblance to her. Oh. _Oh_. "This is my brother Matt. Matt, this is Hunk, Keith, Lance, Coreall and Allura."  
"Hello," they chorused. The human, Matt, stood there and scanned his eyes across them, before saying, "Hi. I'm Matt, and I hope you've all been nice to my sister, or I'm going to give you hell. But she could probably do that by herself, no help needed."  
"You two really look alike," Lance said bluntly. "How did Pidge not get caught when she snuck into the Garrison? Somebody surely recognised you."  
"Katie, you snuck into the Garrison?!" Matt looked astounded, before ruffling Pidge's hair. "I'm proud of you! Wait, are you wearing my glasses?"  
Pidge looked sheepish. "Yeeeeess."  
"And you cut your hair?"  
"Yeeeeeeeess."  
Matt stuck out a hand. Pidge silently took off the glasses and gave them to Matt. He held them up and put them on. "Oh, this is nice! I can see!"  
"Wait, you've been unable to see properly the entire time?!"  
"Nah, kidding. Space contacts are cool, but I've only worn them out of necessity."  
"Then, shouldn't you take the space contacts off first?" interjected Lance.  
"Probably," agreed Matt. "Lance right?"  
"The one and only!" Lance said. The two seemed to ease into a friendship quickly, and were soon having an animated conversation about some sort of Earth culture. Coreall watched from a distance, smiling sadly. The mood reminded her of one of her first missions as a Paladin.

_The mission had been difficult, but successful. The prisoners had been freed from the yoke of the emerging Galra Empire, and the others were celebrating. Coreall stood on the balcony, watching over the capital of Altea. Alteans bustled in the streets, unaware of the Galra threat. Everything was peaceful and calm, happy and bright._   
_"Coreall?" She turned to see the boy with blue hair behind her. "Aren't you coming in?"_   
_"In a dobash," Coreall replied. "I was just... watching."_   
_"I know what you mean," said the boy, coming to stand beside her. "All these people, they're so happy. And we have to protect them."_   
_"Yes." The two stood in silence for a moment, a light breeze lifting Coreall's hair. "It's beautiful."_   
_"That it is, cousin." The boy with violet eyes turned to her, a warm smile on his face. "Come on, let us celebrate whilst we can."_   
_Coreall grinned ruefully. "Coming Ronir!"_

"Coreall, come on! Hunk's making dinner! You can't miss it!" The loud voice of Lance shook Coreall from her memories. She looked over to where the new Paladins of Voltron stood. Her new family, her new friends.  
Together, slowly but surely, they would defeat the Galra and the Empire would exist no more. Together, it was certain.  
Coreall smiled, ready for the events to come. "Coming Lance!"

**HEREIN ENDS PART ONE**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yaaaaay! The team is reunited with Shiro, Matt is back, and everybody is happy! Until part 2. Also it was probably obvious, but Ronir is now properly named and we know who he is to Coreall. There's a full story to it in part 2.  
> I will be taking a break from this, for how long I don't really know, because I'm writing a klance oneshot. One word: soulmates!!!  
> Thanks for reading and I hope you've enjoyed up to this point!


	13. Chapter 12: What's a Face Mask?

**PART TWO**

_Dark. Cold. Alone. Pain. Lost. Help. Scared. Them. Lost. Scream. Bright. Hurt. Lonely. Lost! Dark! Help!_  
Coreall jerked awake violently. Trembling, she brought her hand to her face to feel tears dripping down her cheek. The dream had been full of pain and shadows and fear. Someone was struggling with nightmares in the team of Voltron.

"Good morning Keith!" Coreall said as she walked past him emerging from his room. It was unusual for her to be up before him actually, she noted.  
Since Shiro had returned over ten quintants ago, Keith had relaxed more, and she didn't feel as tense around him, but she still felt uncomfortable when she thought of how he had yelled at her. Coreall was certain she would be able to make friends with him eventually though.  
However, she was still finding her feet around Shiro. When faced with his... impressive bulk, Coreall tended to get slightly intimidated.  
Hunk was lovely, Coreall had quickly concluded after hanging around with him for a bit. As well as being amazing with food, he was very intelligent and was as good as Pidge at inventing and building gadgets. Talking of Pidge, Coreall was truly becoming attached to the Green Paladin, especially after discovering a shared interest in languages. When Pidge had told her of the amount and diversity of languages on Earth Coreall had been amazed and intrigued.  
And Lance... well, she got along with him fine. He was easy to be around and was very kind to her. He had even offered to teach her a language named Spanish after he had overheard Pidge and Coreall speaking. She just struggled with the intense similarities between the previous Blue Paladin and him. It was difficult, and memories would pop up without warning.  
As Coreall had pondered over the Paladins, she had walked to the main control room, or the bridge as the Paladins called it. When she had asked them why they had mentioned science-fiction, whatever that was.  
"Good morning Coreall? How are you this fine quintant?" proclaimed Coran, from where he kneeled in a corner, as she entered the room.  
"I am perfectly fine nefar," she replied, deciding not to mention the dream. She would work them out on her own later. "What are you doing?"  
"Just a little maintenance, checking out some minor issues. Nothing important really."  
"If that is so, I will go and have some food goo." Coreall turned and left the room, turning towards the eating room. When she came in, she procured herself a bowl of food goo and sat down at the long table. Coreall has only been there a few minutes when the door opened and Pidge wandered in, still wearing her nightclothes.  
"Morning," she mumbled, running her hands through her fluffy hair.  
"Hello Pidge, I see you got some sleep finally."  
"Yeah," Pidge said as she got some food goo and sat next to Coreall. "Shiro made me go to bed before it got too late."  
"He does seem to care for you all very much."   
"Yes, he does! In fact, don't tell him this but we call him Space Dad behind his back."  
Coreall stifled a giggle. "Space Dad?!"  
"Yup."  
"It makes me think of King Alfor! He is the exact same with Ronir! Ronir has such a habit of losing track of the time..." Coreall trailed off, realising she had spoken in the present tense. "I mean, um, they used to be." Coreall forced a weak smile, pushing away the memories.  
"Coreall..." Pidge reached out and laid her hand on Coreall's shoulder. They remained there for a moment, before Shiro walked in, disrupting them. Pidge took her hand off Coreall's shoulder hurriedly.  
"Good morning Pidge and Coreall!" he said, walking to the food goo dispenser.  
"Ah, good morning Sir- Shiro!" Coreall replied, standing up. "I think I'll go do some training! Coming Pidge?"  
"Voluntary training?" scoffed Pidge. "No thanks."  
"Oh, alright then." Coreall put away her empty bowl and left the room to grab her Bayard. Once leaving her room, she passed Lance's, only to pause and look in to see the Blue Paladin with... what was that?! "Lance!" she yelled, bursting into the room with her Bayard at the ready. "Are you well?! What's on your face?! Is it an Earth disease?!"  
Lance jumped from his bed, where he had been lying with a strange headband on, fruit slices flying from his eyes. "What?! What?!" He paused when he realised it was Coreall. "Coreall?"  
"What's that mulch on your face?" she asked worriedly.  
"Oh, this?" Lance pointed to the green... stuff on his face which slightly resembled food goo. He laughed suddenly, before pausing again. "Wait Coreall... have you never heard of a face mask?"  
"What's a face mask?"

* * *

 

When Hunk entered Lance's room an hour later to ask why he wasn't up yet (because really it was nearly past midday), he had not expected to find him instructing Coreall on how to use moisturiser.   
"Uh, buddy? Have I walked in at the wrong moment again?" Hunk queried, preparing to make a hasty retreat.  
"Hunk!" exclaimed Lance, looking up. "Can you believe this?! Coreall didn't know what a face mask was!"  
"Oh, oh dear." Hunk sighed internally. He had been subjected to something similar when he had first met his friend. It had lasted for hours, if he remembered rightly, and his eyebrows had never felt the same again.  
"So I'm teaching her how to practice proper skin care!" continued Lance. "We're nearly done, aren't we Coreall?"  
"Umm, yes?" Coreall looked confused. Hunk didn't blame her.  
"Anyway, Hunk, when's the last time you used a face mask?"  
"Well, I'm just going to... goooo..." said Hunk, slowly backing out of the room and down the corridor, sweating nervously.  
"You're not getting away that easily! Hunk? Huuunk!"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hellooooo! I'm back!  
> Yes I know it's been ages. I was trying to write that oneshot and it was failing so I've left it for now, although I may return to it in the future.   
> Here is a short chapter to start the second part and its nice and light to get back into writing. I am planning to go into more detail with Coreall's relationship with Allura and Coran so that's in a later chapter I hope. I do have many things planned though, mwahahaha!


	14. Chapter 13: Morphing

"So, in today's training Paladins, I thought we could show you the art of morphing!" Allura announced brightly.  
"What's morphing?" asked Pidge. "Because I'm pretty certain we've already told you, but humans can't shapeshift."  
"Oh, no," laughed Allura. "Morphing is the act of changing the shape of your Bayard. However, to morph your Bayard, the bond with your Lion must be strong."  
"Then it should be easy for me!" exclaimed Lance. "Blue and I are best buds. What about you, dropout?"  
"I'm sure I can do it just fine, cargo pilot," retorted Keith. "I've already seen Zarkon _and_  Coreall do it, so that's at least twice the experience you've had."  
Lance whipped his head round to look at Coreall. "When did you show Keith morphing?!"  
Coreall shrugged her shoulders, something she'd picked up from the Paladins. "We sparred once."  
"You? And Keith? Are there any more secret redezvous...es I haven't heard of?"  
Pidge smirked at Lance. "Jealous of Coreall or Keith? Hunk, what do you think?"  
"Oh Coreall, definitely," replied Hunk.  
"Guys!" squeaked Lance, who had turned as red as Keith's jacket. "Shut up!"  
"Team, settle down," said Shiro. There was some angry mutterings from Lance, but apart from that, everybody returned their attention to Allura.  
"So, Coreall," Allura addressed the other Altean loudly. "Would you be willing to demonstrate morphing for the others?"  
"Certainly, Princess." Coreall stepped to face the others, and activated her Bayard as a halberd. She swapped hands and with a slight glow, it reshaped into a double ended spear.  
"Cool!" Pidge exclaimed. "How does it work? Like, how do you do it?"  
"I focus on the bond with my Lion, and she helps me to concentrate my quintessence on my Bayard. After that it's pretty simple," Coreall explained.  
"Well done Coreall!" Allura said, clapping her hands. "Now as Coreall said, I would like you to concentrate on the bond you have with your Lions. You will be working in pairs. Hunk with Lance, Pidge with Keith and Shiro with Coreall."  
Lance slung his hand around Hunk. "Lets do this before the others buddy, and blow them out of the water!" The two walked off together, Lance swinging his Bayard around.  
Coreall turned to Shiro beside her. "I-"  
"Shiro, Coreall!" Allura jogged up to them. "Coreall, I know you can already do this, but I would like you to assist Shiro. He is not as familiar with his Bayard as the others, so some extra help may be needed. Shiro, I hope you understand?"  
"Yes, thanks Princess." Shiro spoke warmly to the Princess, and Coreall detected a slight hint of blush on his face.  
"My pleasure," she replied, before walking off to oversee Pidge and Keith. Shiro watched her pass them, before she left the training deck and turned right.  
"Um, shall we begin?" Coreall asked hesitantly.  
"Oh, of course," said Shiro, turning to Coreall. "So, I haven't actually tried activating my Bayard yet, but let's give this a go."  
"Okay," Coreall said, using another word she'd picked up from the Paladins. Shiro held the Black Bayard out in front of him, and stared at it with apprehension. It had returned to the regular shape of a Bayard when he had removed it, flinching, from the port in his Lion, but Coreall could still feel the taint of Zarkon emanating from it, and knew Shiro could too. Stepping forward, she put her hand on his arm. "It is alright," she said softly. "The Black Bayard is yours now."  
Shiro looked down at Coreall. "How did you...?"  
"Before I was chosen as the White Paladin, I was training to become an ambassador. Altean ambassadors are trained to be empathetic, diplomatic and charismatic. When the White Lion chose me, one of the powers that came with it was healing, to an extent. The combination of that led to, well, me being really really sensitive and empathetic. It's useful at times like this, but believe me, I cannot step on a single insella without having to bury it."  
Shiro laughed lightly. Thank you. I do feel better kind of."  
"You can do it," Coreall said, stepping away. Shiro focussed on his Bayard again, but this time with determination. As he stared at it, it glowed, and formed into spiked gloves. Coreall frowned. They weren't really gloves though, they just covered Shiro's fingers.  
"Yes!" Shiro exclaimed. At his exclamation, the others looked up.  
"Nice Shiro! Knuckledusters!" Lance exclaimed, throwing a thumbs up at the older Paladin.  
"Why knuckledusters?" asked Hunk, looking confused.  
"Did you not know? Shiro is really good at boxing," Keith answered.  
"Although I haven't practiced it for a while," input Shiro. "I hope I've still got it."  
"I remember Matt really admired your boxing," Pidge said. "He was hopeless at it."  
"Did you contact him last night?" queried Shiro. "I forgot to check."  
"Yeah, he was really chill. His group just liberated a planet called... something like Mau with minimal casualties, so they're all celebrating at the moment." Whilst she spoke, Pidge glared at her Bayard, and too an outburst of surprise, it split into two roughly triangular daggers.  
"Ooooh cool Pidge!" Hunk gasped. He sidled up to her and attempted to poke them, but Pidge's threatening glare made him stop quickly.  
"I think I got the hang of it too!" exclaimed Lance, holding up his activated Bayard. Except instead of its normal gun, it was a much smaller pistol, although still with a similar design. "Handy, don't you think?"  
"Neat," commented Keith.  
Lance was caught off guard for a moment, before replying with a dusting of a blush on his cheeks, "Thanks!"  
Suddenly, an idea came to Coreall's mind. She caught Pidge's eye, and smirking, morphed her Bayard. Then she stealthily pointed to Keith. Pidge looked at the Bayard for a moment, then burst out laughing. The rest of the team spun around at the unexpected outburst, and tried to make sense of the situation.  
"Uhhh, is there a joke here?" questioned Hunk as Pidge collapsed on the floor, still giggling.  
"Oh, I get it," said Shiro, hiding a smile. Keith just looked confused, whereas Lance after a moment started to laugh too.  
"Keith, hold my Bayard," Coreall said. Nonplussed, Keith took hold of the Bayard. Lance blushed profusely and Pidge hooted.  
"I really don't understand," Hunk said, sounding very lost. "Explain, guys!"  
"It's, it's a quiznaking lance!" Pidge blurted out between screams of laughter. Seeing Pidge helpless with laughter, Hunk as the truth dawned, Lance's blushing, Shiro's hidden smile and Keith's general bewilderment, Coreall couldn't help it. She laughed.  
The others turned to look at her as she joined Pidge on the floor. Once the uncontrollable laughs stopped, she looked up to see them looking awkwardly at her. "What?" she asked.  
"Your markings..." Hunk trailed off.  
"They're glowing!" finished Lance.  
"Oh..." Coreall touched the triangular marks on her face. "They do that sometimes."  
"Is there a particular reason? How does it work?" asked Pidge, forever curious.  
"Um, an Altean's marks glow only for a few specific reasons. When they're really really really upset, when they're meditating or using magic occasionally, and also..." Coreall blushed a little and her voice quietened. "...when they are very happy and surrounded be people who are important to them."  
"Aww." Hunk knelt down and hugged Coreall, where he was joined by Lance and Pidge. Coreall was a little stiff at first, before relaxing into the hug. She hadn't felt this warm inside for a long time, she realised. The thought made her eyes a bit hot and itchy, but she told herself she wouldn't cry. Not now.  
After a dobash or so, Lance stood up, followed by Hunk, and finally Pidge and Coreall. "Well," he said, shrugging his shoulders. "Is training over now?"  
Shiro sighed. "I suppose. Hit the showers everyone."  
"Yay!" exclaimed Pidge. As she turned to leave the room, alarms sounded abruptly.  
"Oh," Coreall said.  
"Guess we're not hitting the showers," Keith said.

* * *

 

Allura walked into the control room and positioned herself at her usual spot. She brought up a holoscreen, before spotting Coran in the corner of the room. "Coran?" she said loudly.  
"Ah, Princess!" Coran stood up respectfully. "Just doing a little maintenance."  
"Right," she replied. "Nothing too serious I hope?" As she talked, she flicked through information on the holoscreen.  
"No, not really, just a little problem with connections."  
"Connections to what?"  
"Oh, one of the thrusters, and the door for the Blue Lion's hangar."  
"What? That is quite serious Coran!"  
"Well we have plenty of back-up thrusters, and Number Three can always use the zipline to get in."  
"Alright," sighed Allura. She returned to her work, boring horrible chores that she didn't know how her Father had put up with. Her Father...  
A beeping distracted her, and a red screen popped up. Coran jerked his head up, and sprinted to his position. "Princess! We're receiving a Galra transmission from an incoming ship!"  
"What?!" Allura quickly hit the emergency button, which would send an alarm throughout the entire ship and alert the Paladins.  
The red screen resolved into a slightly blurry image of an odd looking Galran. They had long white hair, the eyes had pupils, and the ears... Allura gasped. The ears were those of an Altean.  
"Greetings Princess," the Galra smirked evilly, and only the knowledge that the Paladins were coming kept Allura upright. "My name is Lotor. Prince Lotor."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading!  
> I really enjoyed writing this chapter and I found it a chance to explore Coreall's relationship with the team and her feelings. Also Prince Lotion has arrived!  
> I have decided that before I post another chapter to this fic I am going to revise the rest of it. I want to fix some plot holes and what I think is bad writing. It would probably be a good idea to reread the entire fic when the next chapter comes out, just because some things might have changed. If you think there is anything I should fix, don't hesitate to point them out to me in the comments!  
> See you after Season 3!


End file.
